Child sex offender jailed for historical abuse

A 72-year-old man has been jailed for 18 years and eight months for multiple child sex offences dating back to the 1980s.

Rodney Abbott admitted a string of attacks including six charges of raping a girl under 16 and multiple indecent assaults on a girl under the age of 14, at a previous York Crown Court hearing.

On Friday, as well as the prison sentence he was also issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, a restraining order and placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely

North Yorkshire Police said Abbott, from near Boroughbridge, took "every opportunity" to abuse his victim.

The victim described her childhood as "a constant stream of sexual assaults" that began from the age of five and carried on into her teens.

Det Con Mike Cope expressed his admiration for her bravery in coming forward.

"Abbott took every opportunity to abuse the victim. She was young, helpless and without any means to escape the things that were done to her," he said.

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